[We welcome pointers to other relevant news stories - particularly from Regions 2 & 3. Please send links to bives @ Mac.com]
Click for June and April/May 2020 News Archives
With Students Set To Return, Colleges Scramble To Provide Free COVID Tests
[July 29, 2020] “Inside a pop-up clinic set up this summer, Brandeis has been piloting COVID-19 testing on faculty, staff and about 100 students.”
https://www.wgbh.org/news/education/2020/07/29/with-students-set-to-return-colleges-scramble-to-provide-free-covid-tests
Virtual Learning Will Be Better This Fall. Right?
[July 29, 2020] “As colleges head toward the remote fall they dreaded, they must deliver a more compelling learning experience than last spring's. Most think it will be better, but it may not give students what they crave.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2020/07/29/will-virtual-learning-be-better-fall-will-it-be-better-enough
Cybercriminals Gain a Hacking Edge on Government and Higher Ed
[July 28, 2020] “The week in cybersecurity includes news about a surge in COVID-related hacking attacks on government and colleges and how facial recognition technology is losing ground as demands rise for police reform.”
https://www.governing.com/security/Cybercriminals-Gain-a-Hacking-Edge-on-Government-and-Higher-Ed.html
Communicating Risks to Foster Compliance
[July 28, 2020] “Colleges are employing multipronged strategies to inform students about the pandemic. Will their efforts get students to take safety precautions seriously?”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/07/28/how-colleges-are-communicating-students-about-covid-19
Call for new US tech university to feed graduates into government
[July 28, 2020] “Commission recommends launch of Digital Service Academy to address shortage of talent in federal government”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/call-new-us-tech-university-feed-graduates-government
Back-to-College Plans Devolve Into a Jumble of Fast-Changing Rules
[July 28, 2020] “With the fall term about to start amid pandemic, campus plans are in disarray at a host of American colleges”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-college-fall-semester-online-lockdown-reopen-harvard-michigan-berkeley-11595949067 [paywall]
As Students Flock to Gap-Year Programs, College Enrollments Could Suffer
[July 28, 2020] “Gap-year programs are seeing soaring interest from students looking for alternatives to online learning.”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/as-students-flock-to-gap-year-programs-college-enrollments-could-suffer [paywall]
The pandemic is widening educational inequality
[July 27, 2020] “For many low-income students, online courses are a poor substitute for in-person learning”
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/07/27/the-pandemic-is-widening-educational-inequality?utm_campaign=the-economist-today&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud&utm_term=2020-07-28&utm_content=article-image-4 [paywall]
UK union fears thousands of job losses as casual contracts axed
[July 27, 2020] “Union says that more than 1,000 posts are under review at at King’s College London, with Liverpool also looking at major cuts”
Up to 30,000 fixed term appointments across UK higher education due to the pandemic, much of it due to decline in international students.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/uk-union-fears-thousands-job-losses-casual-contracts-axed
COVID-19 testing at universities threatens to strain nationwide capacity
[July 26,2020] “Many schools and universities are planning to regularly test students and staff in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 on their campuses But public health officials and experts worry there is not enough capacity and supplies to test thousands of people who aren’t showing any symptoms of the disease.”
This article from The Hill describes different testing strategies planned by a variety of schools.Among the strategies are requiring students to pretest, testing upon arrival, and regular testing
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/508904-covid-19-testing-at-universities-threatens-to-strain-nationwide-capacity
Virtual is the way to go for (most) academic conferences
[July 25, 2020] “The lockdown has illustrated that we don't need to sacrifice academic interaction to save the planet”
As Rick Watson has discussed in his essay on natural capital, our current forced march towards online conferences is great for the economy. It also has some other plusses for conference goers.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/virtual-way-go-most-academic-conferences
FALL SEMESTER PLANS EMBRACE PANDEMIC PRECEDENT: OUTDOOR CLASSROOMS
The motto of Eckerd College on the Florida Coast is "Think Outside" and they are living up to it in their plans for returning to campus. They have identified 27 locations on campus where classes might be held.
"All faculty members will have access to the map of locations before classes begin and will be able to reserve one of 27 outdoor spaces (based on availability) for their class meeting time for the duration of the course"
https://www.eckerd.edu/news/blog/fall-semester-plans-embrace-outdoor-classrooms/
COVID-19 has accelerated the digital transformation of higher education
[July 21, 2020] “Developing a virtual culture for universities will require both imaginative and creative implementation, as well as open leadership, and an innovative mentality.”
Five necessary foci for higher education, according to the article are; equal opportunity, tying learning outcomes to employability, sustainable development, faculty well-being, competency training.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/covid-19-digital-transformation-higher-education/
Which systems are at most risk from the Covid financial fallout?
[July 21, 2020] “Global data show the vulnerable position that some countries were already in before the pandemic hit”
The article’s primary focus is the threat to higher education from the loss of international students, withAustralia and the UK being most at risk.
“Countries like China, South Korea and Japan “will be looking more attractive than before, relative to the Western countries, for international students”, while in Europe, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the Nordic countries “all have the opportunity to become globally bigger in higher and international education in the post-pandemic period”.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/which-systems-are-most-risk-covid-financial-fallout
New Data on Academic Freedom and Financial Exigency Policies
[July 20, 2020] “On financial exigency, 95 percent of institutions studied have financial exigency policies that allow for the termination of appointments.”
On the road to university bankruptcy, lies “financial exigency,” a severe step that gives universities cover for eliminating programs and tenured faculty, but also sends a negative message to future faculty, students, and parents.
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/07/20/new-data-academic-freedom-and-financial-exigency-policies
COVID-19 Roundup: More Conferences Cancel Fall Seasons
[July 20, 2020] “Six athletic conferences cancel or postpone fall seasons. Hillsdale College defies state attorney general. Citing quarantine order, Ithaca College tells some out-of-staters to start classes remotely.”
New York State requires incoming students from 22 states to quarantine for 14 days upon entering the state. Ithaca College reported they do not have the resources to handle the influx of out-of-state students. So, how will they handle an influx of students who get the disease on campus?
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/07/20/more-conferences-cancel-fall-sports-and-other-covid-19-news
For First-Generation Students, a Disappearing ‘College Experience’ Could Have Grave Consequences
[July 17, 2020] “As a first-generation college student I was looking forward to making the most out of my college education since it was something my parents didn’t have the privilege of pursuing,”
“Low-income and first-generation students “disproportionately bore the brunt of Covid-19,” said Anthony Abraham Jack, an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education…“Many students are missing out on access to the college and college experiences that promote stability, security, housing, access to food, access to the internet,” he said. “What you don’t want is for them to fall through the cracks even more with online learning.””
https://www.chronicle.com/article/For-First-Generation-Students/249199 [paywall]
After Cruise Ships and Nursing Homes, Will Universities Be the Next COVID-19 Tinderboxes?
[July 16, 2020] “Not surprisingly, many professors, particularly those who are older or have pre-existing medical conditions, say they will refuse to teach inside classrooms. But to be able to refuse, you need some degree of power.”
Which of these is different than the other three? Prisons, nursing homes, cruise ships, colleges. Hint: It's pretty hard getting off three of them unless someone lets you.
The risk to the community increases signicantly if students are not domiciled and "forced" to stay on campus. Large public urban universities are particularly prone to spread the virus as each night most students return home and or to places of work.
“For the city where a campus is based, reopening will be like dropping a cruise ship into the center of town—and giving passengers free rein. Campus outbreaks cannot be hermetically sealed—they will inevitably cause a spike in community spread, affecting the city, state, and beyond. Universities that fully re-open in the midst of an uncontrolled epidemic will bear responsibility for the damage they cause to their wider communities.”
https://time.com/5867395/will-universities-be-next-covid-19-tinderboxes/
This May Be the Worst Season of Summer Melt in Memory. Here’s How Some Colleges Are Fighting It.
[July 16, 2020] “The pandemic risks derailing students of color, especially, hurting their prospects and colleges’ bottom lines”
“More than 40 percent of minority high-school seniors have said it’s very likely they won’t go to college in the fall, or that it’s too soon to say, compared with 24 percent of white seniors.”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/This-May-Be-the-Worst-Season/249191 [paywall]
More Faculty Fears About the Fall
[July 16, 2020] “About three-quarters of professors surveyed by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties say they’re worried about teaching in person this fall due to COVID-19.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/07/16/more-faculty-fears-about-fall
Budget ‘Bloodbath’ at University of Akron
[July 16, 2020] “Governing board votes to eliminate 97 full-time faculty positions.”
Positions to be eliminated were identified by schools deans and department chairs, who were requested to reduced budgets by up to 25%. Neither rank nor tenure status protected faculty. Faculty members and their union representatives protest that the school is favoring athletics. The AAUP has reported the the University of Akron has lost $215 million over a decade on its athletic programs.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/07/16/budget-bloodbath-university-akron
University of Arizona cuts 250 jobs as fallout from COVID-19 pandemic hits finances
[July 15, 2020] “University of Arizona has cut more than 250 employees amid looming threats of enrollment drops and COVID-19 induced financial crisis. ”
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2020/07/15/university-arizona-eliminates-250-jobs-citing-covid-19/5436313002/
Covid And The College-Community Compact: Commitment And Conscience
[July 14, 2020] “As colleges and universities look ahead to the rapidly approaching fall semester, one surely to be unlike any seen before as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of planning and coordination with their communities has become abundantly clear”
“Different horses for different courses!” Pandemicv recovery programs intended for a small liberal arts college located two hours from the nearest city, have a much different problem than does a large public institution located in a major city where only 20% of students live on campus and 50% of students must work to finance their education. This article delineates nine such environments that will require quite different plans if students are to be brought back on campus.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrosowsky/2020/07/14/covid-and-the-college-community-compact-commitment-and-conscience/#c511e45e6598
Australia stands out as leaving research elite to bear virus burden
[July 14, 2020] “The differential impacts of the Covid-19 wrecking ball reflect different countries’ priorities, conference hears”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/australia-stands-out-leaving-research-elite-bear-virus-burden
Colleges Face a No-Win Dilemma: To Cut or Not to Cut Tuition?
[July 13, 2020] “They can discount tuition for online classes and take a hit to the bottom line, or they can stick with full tuition and still probably take a hit to the bottom line.”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Face-a-No-Win/249168 [paywall]
COVID-19 Roundup: Doubts About Social Distancing
[July 14, 2020] “More sports cancellations, outdoor classrooms at Rice and new doubts about capacities of college health centers and whether students will social distance.”
Among other things, the article reveals that my neighbor, Rice University, is erecting nine outdoor classrooms - “Five of the classrooms are open-sided circus tents the university is buying.” How’s that for out of the box, if rather toasty in August and September, thinking. Can't wait to get on my bike and go check its out.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/07/14/covid-19-roundup-more-sports-nixed-outdoor-classrooms-rice-doubts-about-health
Pandemic Hurts Student Mental Health
[July 13, 2020] “A new survey found students had difficulty accessing mental health care and experienced higher rates of depression after the pandemic began, prompting calls for a broad response from colleges.”
Lots of survey data here on depression, financial stress, discrimination, availability of mental health services, Covid-19 instances, and perceive level of support from university and professors.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/07/13/survey-finds-higher-prevalence-depression-among-students-and-difficulties-accessing
Colleges Face a No-Win Dilemma: To Cut or Not to Cut Tuition?
[July 13, 2020] “Amid all the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic for higher education, two things are becoming clear. Most students yearn to come back to campus in the fall, in spite of the risks. And if, instead, students wind up receiving online instruction come September, they don’t want to pay full tuition.”
The article explores the financial implications if a college or university elects to go all online but does not reduce tuition. A consulting firm predicted that one college “could lose 30 percent of its enrollment yield for admitted freshmen and 25 percent of its current students.” But. At that same college, “a 20 percent grant would cut the expected hit to enrollment yield for freshmen to about 15 percent, and cut the projected retention drop to about 15 percent.”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Face-a-No-Win/249168 [paywall]
With a degree no longer enough, job candidates are told to prove their skills in tests
[July 10, 2020] “Instead of relying on credentials, more employers want applicants to show their stuff”
A test in addition to, or even instead of, a degree!!!
“Nearly one in four businesses now conduct such assessments, the National Association of Colleges and Employers reports; nearly 40 percent of hiring executives expect them to become widespread within three years and 70 percent within five, according to a survey conducted before the pandemic by Northeastern University’s Center for the Future of Higher Education and Talent Strategy.”
https://hechingerreport.org/with-a-degree-no-longer-enough-job-candidates-are-told-to-prove-their-skills-in-tests/
Colleges Say Hybrid Courses Will Make the Fall a Success. But Will Students Get the Worst of Both Worlds?
[July 10, 2020] “But as colleges scramble to figure out how to re-open campuses, it’s easy to see why HyFlex holds appeal. It offers something to everyone: Students who can’t come to campus can still receive “live” teaching.”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Say-Hybrid-Courses/249162 [paywall]
How colleges, and the government, are handling a spike in requests for more financial aid
[July 10, 2020] “Before this week, the Education Department was unclear on whether the decade-old guidance, which gave colleges leeway to adjust a greater share of financial aid awards, still applied. In May, a senior official at the department said the 2009 guidance was no longer active,”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/07/10/college-financial-aid-coronavirus/?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_higher-education
Colleges Are Making Masks Mandatory. But They’re Not an Option for Everyone.
[July 9, 2020] “Many campuses that plan to return to in-campus instruction this fall will do so with mandatory mask-wearing policies. But for some people, masking up presents extra challenges. Accounting for those populations makes the question of community safety more complicated.”
The deaf or partially deaf and some others suffering from some symptoms of autism can not function as well in a mask-covered world, but risk being shamed for not wearing a mask. These health-related and political issues will be a nightmare for some students and members of faculty.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Are-Making-Masks/249153
Coronavirus exposed how broken American higher education really is
[July 9, 2020] “But with each passing day, the task for America’s colleges and universities is looking more like a Mission Impossible.”
In this left-leaning blog post, Will Bunch describes the U.S, higher education system as “essentially privatized,” and thus, largely unprepared to whether the pandemic storm,
"The coronavirus would still be a problem, but it would be much less of a problem if we saw higher education as a universal public good, in the same way that we currently aim to perceive K-12 learning."
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/colleges-reopening-fall-2020-coronavirus-economics-tuition-20200709.html
Covid-19 Accelerates 3 Disruptive Trends Facing Higher Education
[July 8, 2020] “Don’t fight the future, embrace it! We need a regulatory framework that can meet the challenges of this moment and the future that follows it, that is designed for the technological age, and that can fundamentally modernize our approach to investing in and unlocking the potential of every individual.”
In this opinion piece Scott Pulsipher, President of Western Governor’s University observes that College’s and Universities “entered the pandemic with pre-existing conditions.” Those he delineated were escalating costs, a disconnect with future workforce needs, high student debts, racial disparities in outcomes, and low completion rates. In addition higher ed was facing three disruptive trends, trends that will be accelerated by Covid-19 and could be accelerated far faster with new policies and regulatory frameworks. The disruptions he identified are online education - forced upon us by Covid-19 -. Financial pressure and consolidation risk, and a transition from degree-based pipeline to one more focused on skills.
Pulsipher’s analysis is rather pessimistic, but his conclusion is more hopeful: “…these disruptive trends have the potential to lower costs for students, increase the value of degrees by improving workforce alignment, and address issues of equity and access.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottpulsipher/2020/07/08/covid-19-accelerates-3-disruptive-trends-facing-higher-education/#785cbd5838df
Emerging Technologies for Tracking COVID-19 in Higher Ed
[July 7, 2020] “With the fall term around the corner and no one-size-fits-all solution to protect staff and students from COVID-19, universities are considering a range of emerging infectious disease tracking solutions to safeguard their campuses.”
https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2020/07/emerging-technologies-tracking-covid-19-higher-ed
The Problems With Pausing the Tenure Clock
[July 7, 2020] "Colleges have not thoroughly examined the cost of such well-intentioned measures and how they might exacerbate racial and gender inequalities, Reem Khamis-Dakwar and Josh Hiller argue."
https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/07/07/response-pandemic-better-alternatives-pausing-tenure-clock-should-be-considered
This Will Be One of the Worst Months in the History of Higher Education
[July 7, 2020] "My plea to college presidents and boards is to announce the inevitable decision to hold most of the fall semester online immediately rather than trying to wait out competitors. This is the right thing to do for everyone in higher education. Students can get a higher-quality education if faculty members have more time to prepare classes. Colleges can devote resources to improving online education and making sure that all remaining in-person classes are as safe as possible."
This Chronicle of Higher Education columnist predicts that "by the the end of July, most colleges will have announced plans for a primarily online fall term, with only critical classes being held in person and limited residence-hall capacity for students who do not have other safe options." He also predicts that college football will not take p[lace this fall.
The posting includes a table showing the 320 U.S. colleges and universities that in 2018 garnered more than 20% of their revenues from auxiliary services - e.g., housing, dining - revenues that will largely go away if students are not on campus.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/This-Will-Be-One-of-the-Worst/249128?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_1343561&cid=db&source=ams&sourceId=4853608. [paywall]
US says foreign students must leave if classes go fully online
[July 6, 2020] "Students holding visas for either academic or vocational courses that have moved fully online should either depart the country or transfer to a school with in-person teaching to "remain in lawful status", US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said, adding that a failure to do this could result in deportation proceedings."
https://www.ft.com/content/562bfeec-0955-4689-911b-b5137c4ba6b5 [paywall]
College students are preparing to return to campus in the fall. Is it worth it?
[July 6, 2020] ""Students need to understand that the very existence of their college may be at stake as the economic fallout from the pandemic becomes apparent," Massa wrote. "Meanwhile, colleges must do all they can to help students through this difficult time so that they can complete their education, earn their degree and launch their lives. Ultimately, that is what students and families want, and that is what their tuition dollars make possible.""
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/college-students-are-preparing-return-campus-fall-it-worth-it-n1232879
CUNY Layoffs Prompt Union Lawsuit
[July 6, 2020] "City University of New York laid off 2,800 adjunct professors and part-time staff members last week. The union representing the employees responded by suing the university system"
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/07/06/economic-fallout-pandemic-leads-layoffs-cuny-and-union-lawsuit
Tenure Is Dead: Pandemic Edition
[July 6, 2020] "Georgia Tech faculty are doing what they can to assert their power, but there isn't much muscle left"
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/tenure-dead-pandemic-edition
'A Nightmare': Georgia Tech Faculty Push Back Against In-Person Reopening Plans
[July 5, 2020] "At the Georgia Institute of Technology, which is scheduled to hold in-person classes, more than 800 of its 1,100 faculty members have published a letter outlining their concerns. The letter, reported by Georgia Public Broadcasting, criticizes the state university system for mandating statewide reopenings this fall that "do not follow science-based evidence, increase the health risks to faculty, students and staff, and interfere with nimble decision-making necessary to prepare and respond to Covid-19 infection risk.""
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/05/887471299/a-nightmare-georgia-tech-faculty-push-back-against-in-person-reopening-plans
Colleges Face Rising Revolt by Professors
[July 3, 2020] "Thousands of instructors at American colleges and universities have told administrators in recent days that they are unwilling to resume in-person classes because of the pandemic."
"At Penn State, an open letter signed by more than 1,000 faculty members demands that the university "affirm the autonomy of instructors in deciding whether to teach classes, attend meetings and hold office hours remotely, in person or in some hybrid mode." The letter also asks for faculty members to be able to change their mode of teaching at any time, and not to be obligated to disclose personal health information as a condition of teaching online."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/us/coronavirus-college-professors.html?referringSource=articleShare [paywall]
Working While Parenting Is a Reality of Covid-19. One University Tried to Forbid It.
[July 2, 2020] "Florida State University staff members were told, they could lose their right to work from home if they're simultaneously caring for children. Outrage exploded."
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Working-While-Parenting-Is-a/249107
As Covid-19 Pummels Budgets, Colleges Are Resorting to Layoffs and Furloughs. Here's the Latest.
[July 2, 2020] "As the coronavirus outbreak erodes financial health and administrative confidence at colleges across the country, many have started to lay off or furlough employees en masse to thwart colossal budget shortfalls."
https://www.chronicle.com/article/As-Covid-19-Pummels-Budgets/248779
How Closely Should Students Be Spaced? At One Campus, 3 Feet Quickly Becomes 6
[July 1, 2020] "Using three feet instead of six, as a guide for social distancing, conflicts with the vast majority of other colleges' plans."
https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-Closely-Should-Students-Be/249104
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Blake Ives
bives@mac.com------------------------------